I descend, on my mother's side of the family, from Prussian
born Dr. Augustus J. Benjamin Schiller presented by Robert Schiller
in the journal of the "Associa tion des Familles d'Origine
Germanique du Québec" (Germaniques: Ahnengalerie),
Vol. 2, No. 2 (2002). By this text, I document his descendance
from the Louiseville-Maskinonge region, where he established
himself, in my natal village of Saint Côme (Berthier),
where his granddaughter, Seraphine Schiller (1833-1913), my mother's
great grandmother is interred. I begin with a biographical sketch
of my ancestor, including the reason for his being in Canada
in the 18th century.

Biographical Sketch of
the Ancestor

Augustus J. Benjamin Schiller was born in Königsberg, Prussia
(now Kaliningrad, Russia)
in 1757 .1 In an essay called The Family Tree (1970),
Cecile Schiller Belland wrote that he was the youngest of a family
of seven children.

City of Königsberg in 1750

1 Augustus J. Benjamin
was born in 1757 according to public notary Antoine Robin who
wrote he was 26 years old in the marriage contract that he signed
on July 14, 1783.

He studied medicine and enlisted
in the army as a military surgeon. He belonged to the troop of Prince of Braunsweig,
directed by Baron Adolf von Riedesel. This troop was founded
at the request of King George III of England to quell the revolt
of the thirteen American colonies.

Baron
Von Riedesel Braunsweig
Troup Soldiers

He arrived at New York City in the month of May 1780, with the regiment of Colonel Johann
F. von Specht, a company of Major Ehrenkrook.2 On July 20, 1781,
he was at Fort Brooklyn, Long Island, N.Y., as indicated in the
muster roll that follows.3 Two days later, he left for Quebec
with General Riedesel and 900 troops on board the Lilledale.4

He arrived at Quebec City on September 12, 1781.5 From there, he went with his regiment
to Yamaska,6 and lived with the family of Pierre and Marguerite
Hebert (nee Desrosiers).7 He fell in love with their daughter
Marguerite (1764-1843), whom he married in 1783. The marriage
was blessed by the chaplain of his regiment8 some time before
he left the army on 22 July of that year. Augustus J. Benjamin
practiced medicine. "This young man does not have much experience
yet, wrote General Riedesel, but who has promise for the future
because of his dedication to his work".9 He practiced as
an intern with a lessor, first in Quebec city, then in Louiseville
(1785). His work consisted of attending and treating the lessor
and the members of his family, living at his home free of charge,
provided that the diseases were not exceed eight days, in which
case he was to pay for half the remedies and medicines".10
He opened his own office once granted a medical license. The
following document11, addressed to Lord Dorchester, Governor
of Lower Canada, indicates that on July 1, 1796, he had passed
the necessary exams.

Medical License

5 Robert Schiller, op.
cit., p. 68.
6 Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy, Les Mercenaires allemands au Québec,
1776-1783 , Septentrion publisher, Quebec, 1997, p. 117.
7 "Billetage chez l'habitant" was the expression
used to describe the practice of having German soldiers live
with French-Canadian families in the villages where their regiments
were sent.
8 Lutheran minister Kohle or Johann Carl Bause, also a surgeon.
9 Quoted by Renald Lessard in his Ph.D. dissertation on the Canadian
medical body in the 17th and 18th centuries, Laval University,
Quebec city, 1999.
10 Idem. The lease or contract was signed in 1787.
11 Obtained from Robert Schiller (op. cit.) who had himself obtained
it from Hessian researcher John H. Merz, 304-52 Hayden Street,
Hamilton, Ontario L9A 2X2.

On September 30, 1800, with 316 former German soldiers
who had remained in Canada, he sent a petition to Lieutenant-Governor
Robert S. Milnes asking to be granted a piece of land. Eventually
(1805), he owned the fief and seigniory of Riviere David, now
the municipality of Saint David in Lower Richelieu.12 The seigniory
was later sold to Josias Würtle, also of German origin,
who was a merchant in Quebec City. He left it (1831) to his son
Jonathan (1792-1853), deputy of Lower Canada. He passed it to
his son, counsel Jonathan Sexton (1828-1904), who was deputy,
provincial treasurer (1882-1884) and speaker of the Legislative
Assembly (1884-1886). He was honorary advisor to the Montreal
German Association.

Renunciation of Lutheranism and Birth of Telesphore, Father of Seraphine

In the spring of 1801,
Augustus J. Benjamin became seriously ill and took to bed. One
feared forhis life and on March 29, Louiseville parish priest
Bertrand gave him the last rites after he had made him abjure
Lutheranism. Three years later, in the month of January, the
father of my great great grandmother Seraphine: Telesphore (1804-1880)
was born, 10th child of a family of eleven.13 In Maskinonge where
his parents had been living since 1820, he married, on October
22, 1827, Etiennette Lemire, daughter of Antoine and Josephte
Lemire (nee Dupuis). Their marriage contract,14 signed October
17, bears the signatures of Augustus J. Benjamin and Marguerite
nee Hebert.

12 R. Lessard, op. cit.
13 His brothers and sisters were: Marguerite, dead at birth (1784),
Benjamin, born in 1785, husband of SophieCraig (1808), then of
Marie Lamontagne (1819), Marie-Louise, born in 1787, wife of
Guillaume Paille,Augustin, dead at birth (1789), Josette, born
in 1790, wife of Augustin Moreau, Sophie (1792-1795), Albert,born
in 1794, husband of Sophie Dagenais, Godefroy, born in 1796,
Marie-Sophie, born in 1798, wife of Joseph Vezina (1817), then
of François-Xavier Brunelle (1821), Alexis, born in 1828,
husband of Victoire Vezina (1828), then of Suzanne Falstre (1833).
A fact is worth mentioning. The elder brother of Telesphore,
Benjamin, followed on his father's path and joined the army.
He commanded two companies belonging to Charles of Salaberry
at the time of the battle of Châteauguay. His bravery on
the battle field, on October 26,1813, was worth for him to be
raised to the rank of captain. Ref. J.P. Wohler, Charles de
Salaberry Soldier of the Empire, Defender of Quebec, Dundurn
Press, Toronto, 1984, p. 88 -90; Victor Suthren,Defend and Hold: the Battle of Châteauguay, Canadian
War Museum, Ottawa, 1986, p. 12-13.
14 Prepared by his brother-in-law François-Xavier Brunelle,
notary in Maskinonge.

Seraphine was born six years
later, on August 19, 1833,15
and baptized the same day in Maskinonge (Parish Church of St.
Joseph). Her godparents were her uncle Albert Schiller and his
wife Sophie Dagenais. Dr. Augustus J. Benjamin was still living.
His death occurred two years later, on June 8, 1835.

Descendants of Seraphine
Schiller

On October 5, 1852, Seraphine married a farmer from Kildare,
Quebec: François-Xavier Laurion (1828-1900),16 son of François and Sophie
Laurion (nee Mandeville17). They had five children of which four
lived and were married in Saint Côme (Berthier), including
Denise (1858-1939). 18 On October 4, 1876, she married my great
grandfather Louis Bordeleau (1851-1921), 19 son of Joseph-Octave
and Julie Bordeleau (nee Clement/Klemenz dit Lallemand). The
following inscription, in the parish registers of Kildare (St.
Ambroise) and Saint Côme, testify to her birth and marriage.

Baptism

15 She came after two children dead at birth (David, 1828, and
Alexis, 1831), one dead in infancy (Charles, 1829-1831) and another
who died unmarried at 30 years old: Charles, 1832-1862. Louis,
who came after Seraphine (1834), had a son with Azilda Landry
whom he married in Maskinongé in 1857. We have found one
daughter, Olive, married to Joseph Denis (1890). Their son, Joseph
Jr., had with wife Marie-Reine Gregoire (married in Berthierville
in 1919) a son, Bernard, who married Louisette Page (Berthierville,
1962). We met their son Hubert who lives in Gatineau, Aylmer
sector, with his family.
16 Widower of Emilie Deshaies, daughter of Modeste and Marguerite
Deshaies (nee Clement/Klemenz dit Lallemand), whom he married
in Kildare on November 24, 1846. Marguerite was the sister of
Julie, the mother of my great grandfather Louis Bordeleau. See
in the Annex the lineage of Julie and Marguerite Clement/Klemenz
dit Lallemand.
17 Married in Saint Paul de Joliette on February 23, 1824.
18 She was born in Kildare on April 18, 1858.
19 Brother of Romuald (Helene Gregoire, 1864), Nazaire (Sophie
Chevrette, 1865), Marie-Jeanne (Theophile Rivest, 1868), Henriette
(David Brault, 1869), Victoire (Joseph Prudhomme, 1875), Godefroy
(Osine Landry,
1876) and Lactance (Oivine Hetu, 1876).

Marriage of Louis Bordeleau
and Denise Laurion

Marriage Contract

The couple had seven children20,
raised in Saint Côme (10th Line), including my grandfather
Georges Bordeleau (1889-1971). His godparents were his grandparents
François-Xavier Laurion21 and Seraphine Schiller. Aunt
Gabrielle Bordeleau , who knew her, says of grandmother Denise:
"she was a very gentle old lady. On the corner of her kitchen
table, she had a box where were put her utensils and her dishes.
She spoke while washing up her dishes and water flew everywhere
she worked so fast. Her son Georges looks very much like her
".

Denise Laurion Georges
Bordeleau

My grandfather Georges was married in Saint Côme to Marie
-Evelina (Florida) Landry (1891-1987), daughter of Jean22 and Euphrosine Landry (nee
Gagnon). The ceremony, presided by the parish priest Joseph S.
Barrette, took place on September 12, 1911. This is also parish
priest Barrette who buried in Saint Côme the body of Seraphine
Schiller, when she passed away on February 6, 1913. The following
inscription in the parish register of Saint Côme does testify
of it.

20 Juste (1881-1962),
husband of Angelina Bruneau, Leon (1887-1983), husband of Marie-Anne
Marion, Adelard (1893-1962), husband of Docia Melançon,
Armand (1898-1915), Malvina (1883-1920), wife of Jean-Baptiste
Venne, then of Urgel Melançon, Emma (1885-1888) and Anna,
born in 1891, wife of Magloire Venne.
21 He died on January 16, 1900, while visiting his son Georges
(Gaudet Anna), in Leeds (Northampton), Massachusetts. He was
buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Leeds.
22 Brother of Elie, whose daughter Melina (married to Leon Roy)
was the mother of renown writer Gabrielle Roy. Their father François
came from Saint Jacques de l'Achigan and had deported Acadian
ancestors.

The couple had nine children, including my mother Florence, born
in Saint Côme on May 5, 1922 and deceased on December 25,
1990.

She appears on the following
photo, taken in the
1980's, next to her mother, with my father Henri Theriault23
to her right. One sees, left to right: her brothers Gaetan (Rejeanne
Nadeau), Gerarld (Lucie McCabe), Jean-Louis (Laurette Boucher),
Theodore24 and Romeo (Gabrielle Chailler). At the time the photo
was taken, her sistersMarie-Reine (Emilien Riopel), Emurielle
and Juillette were deceased.

23 Son of Joseph and Parmelia Theriault (nee Arbour),
born on June 2, 1914. Married in St Côme 1947.07.26.
24 Widower of Yvonne Rivest and Laurianna Baillargeon.

I was born on July 23, 1947 in Saint Côme, brother
of Michel, Luc (Jocelyne Vivier), Manon,Jocelyn (Danielle Lavoie)
and Daniel. I married in Montreal, on June 27, 1970, Diane Chouinard,
daughter of Félix and Rachel Chouinard (nee Charest).
We had the following children: John, born in 1974, husband of
Shylah Antle and father of Veronica, Mélanie, born in
1977, and Justin born in 1990.